Your next iPhone case could be made from lab-grown T-Rex leather thanks to ‘world first’ technology — but experts say otherwise

• The world's first T-Rex leather is being unveiled today (April 2) in Amsterdam in the form of a handbag
• The project is a collaboration between creative agency VML, The Organoid Company, and Lab-Grown Leather Ltd
• It follows last year's announcement, which has garnered heavy debate

The Jurassic Park movies are another step closer to becoming a reality — and it’s all thanks to lab-grown T-Rex leather from the VML creative agency.

A year since it was announced, VML, The Organoid Company, and Lab-Grown Leather Ltd have been working together to collaborate on an ambitious project that sees the world’s first dinosaur leather production. The partnership is to showcase the material’s potential and how it can contribute to sustainable fashion.

The first ever T-Rex leather product will come in the form of a luxury handbag designed by techwear label Enfin Levé, and will go on display at Amsterdam’s Art Zoo Museum today (April 2). It will also be displayed underneath a monster replica of a T-Rex skeleton acquired by the museum from Naturalis Biodiversity Center to “symbolise(s) a bridge between ancient biology and future-facing luxury design”, as VML states in its announcement.

Following the exhibition’s 6-week run, the handbag will then go to auction and will be sold to the highest bidder, but though VML has shared that this is a collector’s item, the company added that T-Rex leather will continue to be produced and will become commercially available to designers and brands.

CEO of The Organoid Company, Thomas Mitchell, is just one of the brains behind the world’s first dinosaur leather goods, sharing, “This project demonstrates how genome and protein engineering can create entirely new classes of biomaterials”. At the same time, Global Chief Creative Officer, Innovation & CCO EMEA at VML also had the following to say:

“The stark reality is that lab-grown leather hasn’t yet convinced the luxury world. Why? Because it feels like an imitation. We knew we had to do something radically different. Not a substitute, but something entirely new”.

It’s one of the most whacky tech projects in recent years and one that has us scratching our heads. What exactly is T-Rex leather, and what are the experts saying?

Caught out on a technicality

The concept of this lab-grown T-Rex leather has been subject to much debate and controversy since it was unveiled last year. Essentially, it’s produced by sourcing fossilized T-Rex collagen sequences and using processes such as computational biology and AI modelling.

According to VML, this allows scientists “to predict(ed) and reconstruct(ed) the remaining genetic information required to form a complete collagen blueprint”, and from there, the DNA is placed into a carrier line cell, which is then cultivated using Lab-Grown Leather Ltd’s Advanced Tissue Engineering Platform.

For the purposes of reducing deforestation and manufacturing pollution, it’s quite revolutionary, but the debate regarding whether or not it can be classed as leather is still heavy. This is because the foundation of leather is skin, and researchers have only found T-Rex collagen in bone, as Live Science reported at the time of last year’s announcement. The publication also noted that academics in the field called the process of making lab-grown T-Rex leather 'misleading' and 'fantasy'.

We've reached out to VML for a comment on the backlash, so we'll update this story when we know more.

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